Press Release: 00015

31 July 2006

Newquay once again tops the list of favoured locations.

Source: http://www.ukpropertyshop.co.uk

There seems to be no getting away from it, even more of us want to get away to the coast and leave central parts of the UK behind. Out of the top 50 preferred town locations in July, more than 20 are seaside or coastal resorts, including all of the top 10. We cannot say why these places are especially attractive to house buyers, or whether people are moving home or looking to buy second homes for holidays or future retirement. The supply of coastal property of the kind favoured for leisure use is virtually fixed, since most people are looking at older properties close to amenities and preferably with a better than average outlook, or why bother to move in the first place? The pressure on prices is bound to show through and this is very evident in areas of Cornwall where prime locations have skyrocketed in the last year, with £500,000+ price tags now commonplace.

So once again Newquay and Skegness top the league table, with Dundee in picturesque Angus just behind, followed by Bournemouth, Great Yarmouth, Swansea and Bridlington. Elgin is fairly close to the coast and in one of the most beautiful parts of the country, surrounded by some of the most famous whisky distilleries in the world, so it is easy to see why so many people want to move there.

One or two names look slightly out of place, such as why Yeovil should be at number 12? The mainstay of the local economy is of course the Westland Agusta helicopter factory, which has a bulging order book, but the town is also a popular retirement centre within easy reach of the Somerset and Dorset coasts, with an excellent quality of life. Sherborne in Dorset features at 33 on the list and is just 5 miles from Yeovil, but commands even higher prices due to its olde worlde character and is attractive both as a place to retire as well as a weekend escape from London.

Moving Location Index (Towns) - July 2006

Rank	Town	County	Points
1	Newquay	Cornwall	102
2	Skegness	Lincolnshire	71
3	Dundee	Angus	66
4	Bournemouth	Dorset	62
5	Great Yarmouth	Norfolk	62
6	Swansea	Swansea	55
7	Bridlington	Yorkshire	54
8	Elgin	Moray	51
9	Llandudno	Gwynedd	50
10	Blackpool	Lancashire	44
11	Bath	Somerset	43
12	Yeovil	Somerset	43
13	Penzance	Cornwall	42
14	Northallerton	Yorkshire	41
15	Wetherby	Yorkshire	40
16	Hunstanton	Norfolk	40
17	Teignmouth	Devon	40
18	Ross-on-Wye	Herefordshire	40
19	St Ives	Cornwall	40
20	Leek	Staffordshire	40
21	Hartlepool	Durham	37
22	Rochdale	Greater Manchester	34
23	Barnsley	Yorkshire	33
24	Bognor Regis	Sussex	33
25	Southport	Merseyside	33
26	Banbury	Oxfordshire	32
27	Carlisle	Cumbria	32
28	Weymouth	Dorset	32
29	Stafford	Staffordshire	31
30	Leamington Spa	Warwickshire	31
31	Fowey	Cornwall	31
32	Cwmbran	Torfaen	31
33	Sherborne	Dorset	30
34	Oswestry	Shropshire	30
35	Orkney	Scottish Islands	30
36	Abergavenny	Monmouthshire	30
37	Dawlish	Devon	30
38	Lewes	Sussex	30
39	Fleetwood	Lancashire	30
40	Kingsbridge	Devon	30
41	Nantwich	Cheshire	30
42	Farnham	Surrey	30
43	Perranporth	Cornwall	30
44	Lyme Regis	Dorset	30
45	Isle of Anglesey	Gwynedd	30
46	Oxford	Oxfordshire	30
47	Chester	Cheshire	25
48	Portsmouth	Hampshire	25
49	Wrexham	Wrexham	24
50	Taunton	Somerset	23

Note for Editors about the Moving Location Index and UK Property Shop

The UK Property Shop Moving Location Index is based on data from a sample of people looking to buy a property and using the website to register their property search requirements with estate agents in each town. From this data a score is calculated according to the number who are considering either moving within the town where they live, or away from their home town and into another town. The Moving Location Index is not a measure of quality, simply an indication of the relative proportion of home buyers wishing to move into or out of a town, which is influenced by many factors.

The UK Property Shop website www.ukpropertyshop.co.uk was launched in 1999 and is a popular source of information for people looking to buy, sell, rent or let residential property in the UK. It also publishes the National Directory of Estate Agents, the most complete and up to date register of all UK estate agents and letting agents.